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How to fix Galaxy J7 “Contacts has stopped” error that keeps popping up

Welcome to another #GalaxyJ7 troubleshooting episode for the day. This short guide will address one of the common issues on Samsung devices — how to fix “Contacts has stopped” error. Contacts is one of the core apps that comes with every Samsung device today. While our own experience with this app over the years is generally problem-free, many users find it unreliable. Below is one of such cases wherein this error occurs. We hope our suggestions will help in addressing the issue on your own J7.

Before we proceed, we want to remind you that if you are looking for solutions to your own #Android issue, you can contact us by using the link provided at the bottom of this page. When describing your issue, please be as detailed as possible so we can easily pinpoint a relevant solution. If you can, kindly include the exact error messages you are getting to give us an idea where to start. If you have already tried some troubleshooting steps before emailing us, make sure to mention them so we can skip them in our answers.

Problem #1: How to fix Galaxy J7 “Contacts has stopped” error that keeps popping up

My Samsung Galaxy J7 prime suddenly started displaying contacts has stopped working. Restart the app. So I click restart. It then says the same thing with the close app option. So far I’ve tried the following solutions:

 

  • Clear cache
  • Downloading visual voicemail for t-mobile
  • Restarting several times
  • Clear cache from the boot menu after turning the device off and turning it on holding the vol up n home button method
  • Rebooting

 

My only other option left is restoring the device which I am trying to avoid. Is there anything else I can do? Thank you for any help. — Kayirean234

Solution: Hi Kayirean234. “Contacts has stopped” is a common, generic error that usually shows up when the Contacts app encounters a problem. It may be triggered by another app like Phone or a messaging app that uses Contacts app to do a certain task. At other times, it may be due to an operating system glitch. The good thing is, an error like this can almost always be fixed by a user. So, to get started, here are the things that you can try:

Create a backup

Before doing any troubleshooting activities, make sure to back everything up, especially the contacts you can’t afford to lose. The best way to do that is using Smart Switch. If you have a computer, you can install Smart Switch to it, then back your phone up using it.
You can check this page on how to install Smart Switch on a computer.

Clear Contacts app data

Contacts app is a preinstalled app so the most that you can do to troubleshoot it is to delete its data. It’s the equivalent of deleting and reinstalling the app. To delete your app’s data, follow these steps:

  1. Open Settings app.
  2. Tap Apps.
  3. Tap on More settings at the upper right (three-dot icon).
  4. Select Show system apps.
  5. Find and tap your app.
  6. Tap Storage.
  7. Tap Clear Cache button.
  8. Restart your J7 and check for the problem.

Reset app preferences

If the problem stays after wiping your Contact app’s data, you can then try to return all app preferences to the way they were before. At times, an app may stop working properly because another app or service it depends on had been disabled or removed from the system. To ensure that you all the necessary apps that support other apps are up and running, consider resetting app preferences on your phone. Here’s how it’s done:

  1. Open Settings app.
  2. Tap Apps.
  3. Tap on More settings at the upper right (three-dot icon).
  4. Select Reset app preferences.
  5. Restart your S8 and check for the problem.

Clear network settings

Sometimes, incorrect network configuration may lead to some apps not to work properly. To ensure that your J7 has the right network configuration, make sure to clear its network settings. Here’s how:

  1. From the Home screen, swipe up on an empty spot to open the Apps tray.
  2. Tap General Management > Reset > Reset network settings.
  3. Tap Reset settings.
  4. If you have set up a PIN, enter it.
  5. Tap Reset settings. Once complete a confirmation window will appear.

Safe mode

To check for the possibility of a bad third party app causing the problem, your next troubleshooting would be to run your device to safe mode. While in this mode, only pre-installed apps will be allowed to run, which means that if one of your downloaded apps is behind the trouble, Contacts app on safe mode should work properly.

To check voice calling on safe mode:

  1. Turn the device off.
  2. Press and hold the Power key past the model name screen appearing on the screen.
  3. When SAMSUNG appears on the screen, release the Power key.
  4. Immediately after releasing the Power key, press and hold the Volume down key.
  5. Continue to hold the Volume down key until the device finishes restarting.
  6. When Safe mode appears in the bottom left corner of the screen, release the Volume down key.
  7. Let your phone run and try to replicate the problem. If voice calling works properly, you have a bad app issue at hand.

To identify which of your apps is causing the trouble, you should boot the phone back to safe mode and follow these steps:

  1. Boot to safe mode.
  2. Check for the problem.
  3. Once you’ve confirmed that a third party app is to blame, you can start uninstalling apps individually. We suggest that you begin with the most recent ones you added.
  4. After you uninstall an app, restart the phone to normal mode and check for the problem.
  5. If your J7 is still problematic, repeat steps 1-4.
  6. Keep doing the same cycle until you’ve identified the culprit.

Factory reset

If all the solutions above won’t help at all, you must factory reset the device. To factory reset your J7:

  1. Turn off the device.
  2. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Bixby key, then press and hold the Power key.
  3. When the green Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
  4. Press the Volume down key several times to highlight ‘wipe cache partition’.
  5. Press Power button to select.
  6. Press the Volume down key until ‘yes’ is highlighted and press the Power button.
  7. When the wipe cache partition is complete, “Reboot system now” is highlighted.
  8. Press the Power key to restart the device.

Problem #2: How to free up more space on your Galaxy J7 without rooting it

I have a Galaxy J7 and because of the old problem of bloatware, it is running on 95% used storage and 60% RAM, preventing apps from being updated.  I am tempted to root the device and remove the unwanted apps. I have been told this is dangerous and can introduce other unwanted issues. What are your thoughts on this? If you think it is an acceptable solution, is there a reliable procedure or scheme you would advise? — Robert

Solution: Hi Robert. Rooting has both its advantages and disadvantages. If your main concern in contacting us is to find out how to best address the lack of storage space on your J7, our answer is definitely not to root the device. Compared to the potential risks for your device, we doubt if there’s any significant gain you’ll get in terms of storage space. Yes, you’ll be able to remove the unwanted apps but we doubt that they can amount to a few GBs. Why don’t you get an SD card instead? The Galaxy J7 can use up to 256 GB SD card, which is usually more than enough for an average user’s needs.

Rooting compromises the inherent security of Android. There’s a reason why Google “hides” some sensitive files and folders from average users. Unless you intend to use your phone to do advanced tasks which requires root permission, it’s better if you stick with an unrooted Android version. In your case, the best remedy for lack of storage space is to use a secondary storage (SD card).

Problem #3: Galaxy J7 Instagram and YouTube apps keep crashing

Hi My Samsung J7 Social media apps keep crashing, specifically Instagram and YouTube. Instagram freezes and I get out of the app to open it again. When I do the screen turns white and “Instagram unfortunately stopped” or something like that. When youtube crashes it freezes like Instagram but when I open it again it won’t start up. I have to reinstall it again. Please help! This has been happening for months. It’s bothering me a lot. — Elloc250

Solution: Hi Elloc250. There are a number of factors that can cause apps to crash randomly or everytime in Android. To fix your issue, we recommend that you follow our advice in this article:

How to fix YouTube app that keeps crashing on Samsung Galaxy J7?

All the suggestions in this article can both be applied to YouTube and Instagram apps.

 

Engage with us

If you are one of the users who encounters a problem with your device, let us know. We offer solutions for Android-related problems for free so if you have an issue with your Android device, simply fill in the short questionnaire in this link and we will try to publish our answers in the next posts. We cannot guarantee a quick response so if your issue is time sensitive, please find another way to resolve your problem.

If you find this post helpful, please help us by spreading the word to your friends. TheDroidGuy has social network presence as well so you may want to interact with our community in our Facebook and Google+ pages.

What to do if the screen of your Samsung Galaxy J7 starts flickering [Troubleshooting Guide]

What makes the screen flickering issue a bit complex is the fact that both firmware and hardware problems may cause it. It happens not just to the Samsung Galaxy J7 but to devices as well and the most challenging part is to determine what caused it. Once you know the cause, it would be a lot easier to fix it assuming the problem isn’t really with the hardware.

In this post, I will tackle this issue with the J7 being the subject of our troubleshooting. We will try to take into consideration every possibility and rule out each of them until we can figure out what caused it. So, if you own this phone and are currently bugged by a similar concern, you may want to continue reading below as this article may be able to help you.

Below are two of the problems sent by our readers and are relevant to what we’re tackling here. Take time reading those problems so you would know how it occurs to others.

Before anything else though, if you have other issues with your device, then visit our Galaxy J7 troubleshooting page for we have already addressed several common problems with this phone. Odds are that there are already existing solutions to your problems so just take time finding issues that are similar with yours. If you can’t find one or if you need further assistance, feel free to contact us by completing our Android issues questionnaire. Please provide us with as much information as possible so that it would also be easier for us to troubleshoot the problem. Don’t worry as we offer this service for free, so all you have to do is give us sufficient information about the problem.

Samsung Galaxy J7 screen starts flickering without apparent reason or cause

Again, the most challenging part in this problem is to determine what caused the flickering so we need to consider the possibility that it’s just caused by an app, then we’ll go after the firmware. As to the hardware problem, there’s only so much we can do about it since that part has to be handled by a technician. Now, before we jump to our troubleshooting steps, try to read the following problem which was sent by our reader…

Problem: Hi guys. I have the J7 phone I purchased 3 months ago and while I haven’t really encountered serious problems with it, there were issues that kept repeating but I was able to fix them. Recently, however, another problem showed up and this time it’s a bit serious and I’m really worried since the screen keeps flickering. There are times when the phone just goes black but turns back on after a few seconds. There are also times when it flickers for a few seconds before it disappears. I am pretty much sure this problem isn’t caused by a physical or water damaged because my phone hasn’t been dropped nor got in contact with any form of liquid. That’s why I’m really worried because it might be a manufacturing problem. Can you help me with it? Thanks.

Troubleshooting: Now that you already have an idea how this issue occurs to other users, it’s time we address it but we’ll also have to consider the fact that you may have a lot of files and data that are stored in your phone. So, we’ll try to do the safe procedures before going to a more general troubleshooting that may affect your files. Here’s what you need to do…

Step 1: Observe your phone’s screen while in safe mode

We need to rule out the possibility that one of the apps you installed might be causing the problem. So, you have to reboot your phone in Safe mode, it is an Android environment which temporarily disables all third-party apps. If the problem is caused by one of the apps, then naturally, the screen flickering issue will be resolved in that mode. This is how to start your J7 in Safe mode:

  1. Turn the device off.
  2. Press and hold the Power key past the screen with the device name.
  3. When ‘SAMSUNG’ appears on the screen, release the Power key.
  4. Immediately after releasing the Power key, press and hold the Volume down key.
  5. Continue to hold the Volume down key until the device finishes restarting.
  6. Safe mode will display in the bottom left corner of the screen.
  7. Release the Volume down key when you see ‘Safe Mode’.

Assuming that the flickering stops in this mode, then you need to find the app that might be causing the problem and then try to update, reset or even uninstall it just to know if the problem gets fixed. Here’s how you do those things in your phone…

How to update apps on your Galaxy J7

  1. From any Home screen, tap the Apps icon.
  2. Tap Play Store.
  3. Tap the Menu key and then tap My Apps. To keep your apps automatically updated, tap the Menu key, tap Settings, and then tap Auto-update apps to select the check box.
  4. Choose one of the following options:
    • Tap Update [xx] to update all applications with updates available.
    • Tap an individual application and then tap Update to update a single application.

How to clear app cache and data on Galaxy J7

  1. From any Home screen, tap the Apps icon.
  2. Tap Settings.
  3. Tap Applications.
  4. Tap Application manager.
  5. Tap the desired application in the default list or tap MORE > Show system apps to display preinstalled apps.
  6. Tap Storage.
  7. Tap Clear data and then tap OK.
  8. Tap Clear cache.

How to uninstall apps from your Galaxy J7

  1. From any Home screen, tap the Apps icon.
  2. Tap Settings.
  3. Tap Applications.
  4. Tap Application manager.
  5. Tap the desired application
  6. Tap Uninstall.
  7. Tap Uninstall again to confirm.

However, if the screen still flickers while in safe mode, then you’ll have to go after the firmware.

Step 2: Try wiping the cache partition as the some caches may be corrupt

Temporary files created by the system known to as as “caches” play a really great role in making sure your phone’s performance is at its optimum level. When some of them get corrupted, things like screen flickering, app crashes, sluggishness, etc. may occur. In this step, I will walk you through in starting your phone up in Recovery mode and then wiping the cache partition.

  1. Turn off the device.
  2. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home key, then press and hold the Power key.
  3. When the device logo screen displays, release only the Power key
  4. When the Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
  5. Press the Volume down key several times key to highlight ‘wipe cache partition.’
  6. Press the Power key to select.
  7. Press the Volume down key to highlight ‘yes’ and press the Power key to select.
  8. When the wipe cache partition is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
  9. Press the Power key to restart the device.

If the screen still flickers after wiping the cache partition, then you’ll have to move on to the next step.

Step 3: Backup your files and data and then reset your Galaxy J7

This will rule out the possibility that this problem is due to a firmware problem. It is necessary you do this prior to bringing your phone to a shop and having a tech take a look at it. As long as the problem has something to do with the firmware, this procedure may fix it. However, all your files and data will be deleted that’s why you need to make a backup of things you don’t want to lose as you won’t be able to recover them after the reset. After the backup, it’s recommended you disable the Factory Reset Protection so you won’t be locked out of your device after the reset.

How to disable Factory Reset Protection on Galaxy J7

To turn off the device anti-theft, you will have to sign out of your Google ID on the device and elect to not sign in with a Google ID into any Google services. Once you sign in with a Google ID to any service and setup a PIN, password or fingerprint lock, you are automatically turning on anti-theft. To sign out of your Google ID, follow these steps:

  1. From the Home screen, tap the Apps icon.
  2. Tap Settings.
  3. Tap Accounts.
  4. Tap Google.
  5. Tap your Google ID email address. If you have multiple accounts setup, you will need to repeat these steps for each account.
  6. Tap More.
  7. Tap Remove account.
  8. Tap REMOVE ACCOUNT.

How to Master reset your Samsung Galaxy J7

Assuming you’ve already backed up your files and data and disabled the FRP, follow these steps to reboot your phone in Recovery Mode and do the Master Reset.

  1. Turn off the device.
  2. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home key, then press and hold the Power key.
  3. When the device logo screen displays, release only the Power key
  4. When the Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
  5. Press the Volume down key several times key to highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset.’
  6. Press Power button to select.
  7. Press the Volume down key until ‘Yes — delete all user data’ is highlighted.
  8. Press Power button to select and start the master reset.
  9. When the master reset is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
  10. Press the Power key to restart the device.

If the problem still occurs after the reset, then bring your phone to the shop and let the tech handle the problem for you as it might have something to do with the hardware.

Galaxy J7 screen started flickering after the forced firmware update

While our reader positively said that this problem started happening after an update, we still cannot say that it really was the update that messed up the phone. Try to read the problem below and then jump to the troubleshooting procedure…

Problem: Hello droid guy. I recently bought a new J7 phone as an upgrade from my J5. Anyways, I keep getting the screen flickering issue. You know, when the screen shows some kind of static and flickers on and off. There’s nothing significant that happened to it except the forced update but I’m not really sure if that’s what’s causing this problem. If you have any idea how to fix this, can you please help me.

Troubleshooting: Basically, this issue is the same as the one we tackled in the previous problem but the difference is that the problem may have started after an update. So, that’s one consideration we have to take and with that being said, here’s what I suggest you do:

Step 1: Start your phone up in Recovery mode and wipe cache partition

This is a very important procedure since there’s always a possibility that the recent update corrupted some of the caches the system uses. Wiping the cache partition will definitely delete all system caches but they’ll be replaced during the reboot after deleting them.

  1. Turn off the device.
  2. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home key, then press and hold the Power key.
  3. When the device logo screen displays, release only the Power key
  4. When the Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
  5. Press the Volume down key several times key to highlight ‘wipe cache partition.’
  6. Press the Power key to select.
  7. Press the Volume down key to highlight ‘yes’ and press the Power key to select.
  8. When the wipe cache partition is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
  9. Press the Power key to restart the device.

Step 2: Backup files and reset your phone

I suggest you try to boot your phone in safe mode first before the reset just to know if the flickering gets fixed. If the situation’s still the same, then backup your files and data and then reset your device.

  1. From the Home screen, tap the Apps icon.
  2. Tap Settings.
  3. Tap Backup and reset.
  4. If desired, tap Back up my data to move the slider to ON or OFF.
  5. If desired, tap Restore to move the slider to ON or OFF.
  6. Tap Factory data reset.
  7. Tap Reset device.
  8. If you have screen lock turned on, enter your PIN or password.
  9. Tap Continue.
  10. Tap Delete all.

If the problem still occurs after this, it’s time to bring your phone to the shop.

Connect with us

We are always open to your problems, questions and suggestions, so feel free to contact us by filling up this form. This is a free service we offer and we won’t charge you a penny for it. But please note that we receive hundreds of emails every day and it’s impossible for us to respond to every single one of them. But rest assured we read every message we receive. For those whom we’ve helped, please spread the word by sharing our posts to your friends or by simply liking our Facebook and Google+ page or follow us on Twitter.

How to fix Galaxy J7 mobile data issue: TracFone mobile data not working

There are many Android users who encounter mobile data issues everyday so this troubleshooting post will answer some questions of #GalaxyJ7 owners. In this article, we bring you solutions to try if you have a mobile data issue similar to the one detailed below. We hope you’ll find this post helpful.

Before we proceed, we want to remind you that if you are looking for solutions to your own #Android issue, you can contact us by using the link provided at the bottom of this page. When describing your issue, please be as detailed as possible so we can easily pinpoint a relevant solution. If you can, kindly include the exact error messages you are getting to give us an idea where to start. If you have already tried some troubleshooting steps before emailing us, make sure to mention them so we can skip them in our answers.

Problem #1: How to fix Galaxy J7 mobile data issue: TracFone mobile data not working

i just recently purchased a Galaxy J7 and received with it 2 months of TracFone service.  My problem is that when there is no Wifi available, the phone will not connect to any app or website even though the service includes data.  I’ve tried turning WIFI off but it still doesnt work – what am i doing wrong? I have an older XTE phone with the same service but it has none of these problems and allows me to surf or open apps with no WIFI available.  I like this new phone, but am currently living with someone who “does not believe” in WIFI or the internet. I have thought about purchasing a mobile wifi but it bugs me that this phone will not operate as it should. thank you.

Solution: Below are the solutions that you can try to resolve this issue:

Ensure that mobile data is ON

This may be obvious, but a lot of people mistakenly think that mobile data function works automatically. Make sure that you enable Mobile data first before using apps that need internet connection.

Use Smart Network Switch

While some Samsung devices may be equipped with Smart Network Switch, a feature that automatically turns mobile data on when there’s no wifi, it may not work as advertised. To check if your J7 has this capability, follow the steps below:

  1. From a Home screen, go to Apps icon.
  2. Tap Settings icon.
  3. Tap Wi-Fi (Wireless & networks section).
  4. Tap Advanced.
  5. Tap Smart network switch.
  6. Tap the switch (located in the upper-right) to turn on Switch on or off Switch off.

Install Android and app updates

Whether you have issues or not, always make it a point to regularly check for updates for both Android and apps. Updates not only bring cosmetic changes but also

To check for Android updates, go under Settings > Software update.

To see if there are any available app updates:

  1. Open Play Store app.
  2. Tap More settings at the upper left (three-line icon).
  3. At the very top where you see the photo for the selected Google account, tap on the profile photo of the account you want to use.
  4. Once you’ve selected the profile you want, select My apps & games and update your apps.

Reset network settings

Resetting a device’s network settings is usually performed to fix text messaging, voice calling, or any other network issues. If you haven’t tried it yet, follow the steps below to know how it’s done:

  1. From the Home screen, swipe up on an empty spot to open the Apps tray.
  2. Tap General Management > Reset settings.
  3. Tap Reset settings.
  4. If you have set up a PIN, enter it.
  5. Tap Reset settings. Once complete a confirmation window will appear.

Reseat SIM card

Some Android users were able to fix mobile data issues in the past by temporarily disconnecting the SIM card. Try doing that and see if that will make a difference. So basically, these are the steps that you want to do:

  1. Turn off your phone.
  2. Carefully remove the SIM card from the device.
  3. Turn it back on without the SIM.
  4. Reinsert the SIM card after a few moments.
  5. Check how mobile data works.

Contact your carrier

Should the issue continue after doing all the steps above, the issue is most probably account- or network-related. In any of these cases, only your carrier would be able to assist you. Make sure to contact TracFone for support.

Problem #2: Galaxy J7 keeps restarting when trying to open a URL, won’t charge

I installed the latest update on July 15, 2018 and since then whenever I am using the google search to look up something or whatever url address I am in, shuts down and reverts back to the phones main page. the  screen I am on goes back to the main page and does not save the url address that I was in. At first it was random, but now it’s all the time. I turned the phone off and removed the battery for one minute, then I pressed to off button for another minute.  I then placed the battery back on the device and went to the incognito page and deleted cache from the privacy settings. This did not help.

In fact I am unable to fully charge my phone even after it has been on the charger for over 12 hours.  Can you tell me out to remove that last update? The phone was working just fine then, or is there a patch I can add to fix the update.

Solution: So what exactly is the main problem right now? Is it the random shut down or slow charging? We don’t know enough history about your phone to help you determine what may be causing these issues but you can try two things: cache partition wipe and factory reset.

Removing the most recent Android update is out of the question, unless you are amenable to flashing stock firmware to it. Flashing is basically modifying core system files on your device using a special tool called Odin. It’s a risky procedure and can potentially damage your phone for good if not done properly. If you can accept that risk, then do some research how to flash the particular phone model you have.

Cache partition wipe

This is a necessary troubleshooting step if your issues started after an update. Sometimes, an update may cause some file or cache corruption. If the system cache had been recently corrupted, it may affect how apps perform. To ensure that you have a good system cache, follow these steps:

  1. Turn off the device.
  2. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home key, then press and hold the Power key.
  3. When the device logo screen displays, release only the Power key
  4. When the Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
  5. Press the Volume down key several times key to highlight ‘wipe cache partition.’
  6. Press the Power key to select.
  7. Press the Volume down key to highlight ‘yes’ and press the Power key to select.
  8. When the wipe cache partition is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
  9. Press the Power key to restart the device.

Factory reset

Should wiping the cache partition won’t help fix the problems, do a factory reset. This will return all software settings to their defaults and should address possible software bugs causing them. Be sure to back your data up first before resetting the phone.

To factory reset your J7:

  1. Back up data on the internal memory. If you have signed into a Google account on the device, you have activated Anti-theft and will need your Google credentials to finish the Master reset.
  2. Turn off the device.
  3. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home key, then press and hold the Power key.
  4. When the device logo screen displays, release only the Power key
  5. When the Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
  6. Press the Volume down key several times key to highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset.’
  7. Press Power button to select.
  8. Press the Volume down key until ‘Yes — delete all user data’ is highlighted.
  9. Press Power button to select and start the master reset.
  10. When the master reset is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
  11. Press the Power key to restart the device.

Get professional help

Should the two solutions above won’t fix the issues, the phone’s hardware must be to blame. Let Samsung check it so they can perform repair if needed.

Problem #3: Galaxy J7 won’t accept Google account credentials after factory reset

My J7 dropped network connection last week and it wouldn’t reconnect . I called Tech support they talked me thru a reset but when I tried logging into my google acct it keeps giving “no acct by that name…”.  We tried opening a new google acct but that didn’t work either. If I open my google acct on my computer it accepts my name and PW just fine and even shows all the activity with my phone since this happened but I can’t seem to get past this issue.  My carrier is ATT if that makes a difference. I called a local repair svc and he didn’t seem to have an answer either. Thank you.

Solution: We’re not aware of a Google error that says “no acct by that name…” Try to visit Google Product Forums and see if there’s anyone who can help you figure it out. Be sure to provide the exact error so they can easily identify it. As it is, there’s nothing in it that can help us determine where the problem lies.

Factory Reset Protection

If you happen to be having a Factory Reset Protection problem and your J7 refuses to accept the Google account username and password, you can bring the device to Samsung so they can unlock it for you. You also need to present the proof of purchase (receipt) as well as other proof that you’re the owner of the device. Without these, Samsung won’t entertain your request to unlock the phone at all.

 

Engage with us

If you are one of the users who encounters a problem with your device, let us know. We offer solutions for Android-related problems for free so if you have an issue with your Android device, simply fill in the short questionnaire in this link and we will try to publish our answers in the next posts. We cannot guarantee a quick response so if your issue is time sensitive, please find another way to resolve your problem.

If you find this post helpful, please help us by spreading the word to your friends. TheDroidGuy has social network presence as well so you may want to interact with our community in our Facebook and Google+ pages.

Galaxy J7 won’t boot normally, stuck in Samsung logo screen, random reboot issue, other issues

For you guys with #GalaxyJ7 issues, this post may be of help. We cover 4 common power/boot issues in this article so hopefully you’ll find it useful.

If you are looking for solutions to your own #Android issue, you can contact us by using the link provided at the bottom of this page.

When describing your issue, please be as detailed as possible so we can easily pinpoint a relevant solution. If you can, kindly include the exact error messages you are getting to give us an idea where to start. If you have already tried some troubleshooting steps before emailing us, make sure to mention them so we can skip them in our answers.

Below are specific topics we’re bringing for you today:

Problem 1: Galaxy J7 shuts down on its own when battery is low

Please help. me i paid a lot of money but nothing is right. so My phone keeps shutting down on 20% then 30 then 40 then 50 then 70 then 90 then 100. i thought it was because of the battery. So then i bought another motha fuckin’ battery for $25. it seems that it is still shutting down. Please help.

I also noticed that when charging it reduces like it’s 90%. i remove the bloody charger it goes to 88% help please. — Dany

Solution: Hi Dany. Like in most Android issues, your problem can be due to either a software malfunction or hardware malfunction. Since you did not indicate that you’ve done any software troubleshooting at all, below are the steps that you must try.

Wipe the cache partition. Android uses a few special sets of temporary files called caches to work. One of these caches is called system cache which is stored in the cache partition. Sometimes, this cache gets corrupted following an update or app installation, resulting to problems. To ensure that it stays fresh, you must clear the cache partition from time to time. This step can be done safely and won’t result to data loss. Here’s how to refresh it:

  1. Turn off the device.
  2. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home key, then press and hold the Power key.
  3. When the device logo screen displays, release only the Power key
  4. When the Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
  5. Press the Volume down key several times key to highlight wipe cache partition.
  6. Press the Power key to select.
  7. Press the Volume down key to highlight ‘yes’ and press the Power key to select.
  8. When the wipe cache partition is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
  9. Press the Power key to restart the device.

Battery recalibration. Another good troubleshooting step that you must do in this case is battery recalibration. This is important since you got a new battery and there’s a possibility that Android may not be detecting its actual remaining power levels. This is a simple troubleshooting step but you must invest some time to do it.

  1. Use the phone by playing games or doing tasks to hasten power discharge, until the phone turns itself off.
  2. Charge the phone without turning it back on.
  3. Wait until the battery says it is fully charged to 100%.
  4. Wait for an hour before unplugging the phone from the charger.
  5. Use the phone until battery reaches 0% percent. The phone should turn off by itself.
  6. Recharge the phone to 100%, wait for an hour before unplugging it again.
  7. The battery should now be recalibrated. Observe how phone works.

Install Android and app updates. In some cases, fast battery drain issues are caused by app incompatibility and/or software bug. To minimize bugs, be sure that your phone runs the latest Android version (we don’t know if there’s an available Android Nougat for J7s at this time). Also, you want to ensure that all your apps are up-to-date. Just open the Play Store app and hit UPDATE ALL.

Wipe the phone with factory reset. Doing a factory reset in this case is not a bad idea. In fact, it’s a critical step to help you determine if the reason for the trouble is software-related or something else. Here’s how to factory reset your J7:

  1. Create a backup of your important files such as photos, videos, contacts etc. You can use Smart Switch for this task.
  2. From the Home screen, tap the Apps
  3. Tap Settings.
  4. Tap Backup and reset.
  5. If desired, tap Back up my data to move the slider to ON or OFF.
  6. If desired, tap Restore to move the slider to ON or OFF.
  7. Tap Factory data reset.
  8. Tap Reset device.
  9. If you have screen lock turned on, enter your PIN or password.
  10. Tap Continue.
  11. Tap Delete all.
  12. Wait for the phone to restart.

Now that you’ve factory reset the device, be sure to see how it works. Do not install apps at this point so you’ll notice any difference in terms of battery performance. Let your phone run for at least 24 hours. Try to use it normally for SMS, calls, and some browsing using native apps. If the issue persists during this period, you know it’s not a software problem.

Send the phone in. It’s always hard to be without a phone for some time but if you’ve reached this point, this means that bad hardware is causing the current problem. This means that it requires a trained professional to determine the cause. It can be broken power management IC, a broken circuit, or just a general problem with the motherboard. If you’re lucky and the damaged component can be replaced, you may have a working phone normally again.

Problem 2: Galaxy J7 reboots randomly, won’t turn on unless plugged in

Hi. My phone is getting off automatically even though the phone has charge and when i am pressing the power button it’s not getting on and when i am connecting my phone to charger then only its starting again. Please help me with the issue. — Achutchowdary

Solution: Hi Achutchowdary. You may have a similar situation with Dany above so we suggest that you do our suggestions for him. If the issue remains even after you’ve factory reset the device, don’t forget to also check if it’s a battery problem by testing another known, working battery. You don’t necessarily need to buy a new one. If you know someone with the same phone, try to borrow his or her phone’s battery and insert it in your phone. If the problem stays, have the phone repaired or replaced.

Problem 3: Galaxy J7 not turning on unless connected to charger

Hi good day i have a problem with my Samsung Galaxy J7 (2015). It will suddenly shuts down and when I’m trying to turn it on, it won’t turn on not unless i plug it into a charger even its not yet battery low. I’ve been experiencing this for a couple of days already. I already did the factory reset but still the problem is there. Hope you can help me thanks. — Mary Fame Falconitin

Solution: Hi Mary. If your phone has been around (over a year old), it’s possible that the battery may have simply lost significant capacity to hold a charge. Lithium-based batteries like the one in your phone degrades even if you’re not using it. The more that you use, the faster it loses capacity. Everyday charging and discharging operations can eventually wear out the life of the battery.

Try a new battery just like what tell Achutchowdary. If that won’t fix the trouble, you can assume that hardware malfunction is causing it.

Problem 4: Galaxy J7 won’t boot normally, stuck in Samsung logo screen

Hi. I have Samsung J710F 2016 model. i was trying to unlock network but it’s stuck with security code. then I wipe out all data in recovery mode and restart. It’s now stuck in bootloop and restarting again just after Samsung logo. I tried to wipe out all cache partition and reboot, but still same problem. Please help it someone else phone. Thank you Regards. — Amit

Solution: Hi Amit. Be sure that you try factory reset via Recovery mode first to see if that will fix the problem. Here’s how it’s done:

  1. Turn off the device.
  2. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home key, then press and hold the Power key.
  3. When the device logo screen displays, release only the Power key
  4. When the Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
  5. Press the Volume down key several times key to highlight wipe data / factory reset.
  6. Press Power button to select.
  7. Press the Volume down key until Yes — delete all user data is highlighted.
  8. Press Power button to select and start the master reset.
  9. When the master reset is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
  10. Press the Power key to restart the device.

If the phone remains stuck in Samsung logo screen, the bootloader may need to be reflashed. Below are the sample steps on how to flash a bootloader. Exact steps on how to do it in your phone may be slightly different so be sure to do some research on how to do it properly. The following steps are provided for general guidance only.

  1. Look for the correct firmware for your phone model and download it. Make sure that you select the right one. It should be the same exact firmware that ran previously on your device. We assume that you list down the firmware version somewhere. If you did not take note of it before, there’s a chance that you may pick the wrong one. As you may know now, using an incorrect firmware can cause complications so good luck with that.
  2. Let’s now say that you have identified the correct firmware. You then want to download it to your computer. The firmware file should have a bunch of files in it like AP_, BL_, CSC_, etc.
  3. Look for the file that starts with a label BL; this should be the corresponding bootloader file for this firmware. Once you’ve identified the bootloader file, copy it to your computer’s desktop or to any other folder that you can easily access.
  4. Proceed with the rest of the flashing procedure using the Odin program.
  5. In Odin, click on the BL tab and make sure to use the bootloader file you’ve identified earlier.
  6. Now, make sure that the “Device Added” status and its “ID:COM box” has turned blue before hitting the START button. This will initiate the flashing of your phone’s bootloader.
  7. Restart the phone once the procedure is finished.

Engage with us

If you are one of the users who encounters a problem with your device, let us know. We offer solutions for Android-related problems for free so if you have an issue with your Android device, simply fill in the short questionnaire in this link and we will try to publish our answers in the next posts. We cannot guarantee a quick response so if your issue is time sensitive, please find another way to resolve your problem.

If you find this post helpful, please help us by spreading the word to your friends. TheDroidGuy has social network presence as well so you may want to interact with our community in our Facebook and Google+ pages.

How to fix Galaxy J7 that keeps showing unwanted ad popups after a software update

Hello #GalaxyJ7 fans! This troubleshooting article talks about what you need to do when you find your device infected by malware or ad popups. Aside from providing the solutions to remove ad popups, we also give you a proven way to prevent malware infection from coming back.

Before we proceed, we want to remind you that if you are looking for solutions to your own #Android issue, you can contact us by using the link provided at the bottom of this page. When describing your issue, please be as detailed as possible so we can easily pinpoint a relevant solution. If you can, kindly include the exact error messages you are getting to give us an idea where to start. If you have already tried some troubleshooting steps before emailing us, make sure to mention them so we can skip them in our answers.

Today’s problem: Galaxy J7 keeps showing unwanted ad popups after a software update

Good Afternoon I am sending this email as a last resort to try and get my Samsung Galaxy J7 back to normal. I installed the latest Android Software Update and ever since I now have ads popping up uncontrollably on my phone blocking everything you do and which is proving to be very frustrating. When you click to close it you are immediately redirected to the webpage and then have to back out and close it again. I see the Facebook symbol and Publicis is on top of the screen and then in very small font the arrow & “ads by Google” I have tried everything from Ads Settings off, to installing Ad Blockers, Google Ad Personalisation Turn Off, Soft Factory Reset and now give up. I checked all my apps I had as I know I did not install any new ones and deleted all the one’s from my phone and when I installed “Ad Detector” it picked up that Whatsapp & Music Player as the only 2 left with ads on them. Do I uninstall and reinstall Whatsapp and if I uninstall Music Player how will I get this back as it came out standard with my phone. I really do hope you can help, as I am going around in circles and do not want to mess up anything else on my phone from not doing the right thing. Regards. — Cynthia [email protected]

Solution: Hi Cynthia. Displaying unwanted ads is one of the ways malicious developers do in order to passively gain revenues so it’s not uncommon to experience them from time to time. Even legit looking apps may sometimes force ad popups. In Android environment, one may get his or her device infected with an adware or malware by doing any of the following:

  • clicking on a booby-trapped link in an email or web browser
  • installing a malicious app
  • rooting the device
  • flashing a non-official firmware

As Android security evolves to protect users from emerging threats, malicious third party developers also up the ante to neutralize whatever security features your device has. Smartphone security is a constant cat-and-mouse battle at this time so as a user, you also have to make sure that you do your due diligence to protect your own device. If you are not mindful of what website you visit, links you click, or apps you install, there’s a chance that you’ll eventually be hit by malware sooner or later. Lowering built-in security of your Android device by rooting or using custom ROM can also put your device in a vulnerable position (that’s why rooting or flashing non-official ROM is only recommended for advanced, security conscious individuals). We don’t know the complete history of your device so we can’t pinpoint the exact reason why it’s been infected. We know for a fact that official OTA or over-the-air update (from your carrier) or Samsung updates don’t infect devices with ad popups so the source of the virus must be coming from somewhere else. To fix your J7, follow our suggestions below:

Fix #1: Install antivirus

We understand you’ve already tried to remove the ad popups by installing ad blockers, among others, but we strongly recommend that you also scan your device using legitimate antivirus apps. Ad blockers don’t really remove bad apps but antivirus can so you want to make sure that you try the latter first. There are many free antivirus apps from the Play Store so just take your pick and scan your device using any of them. When it comes to antivirus, having more than one does not necessarily mean better. In fact, the opposite is true. Once you’ve taken your antivirus pick, make sure to install and use it without any other similar software. Having at least 2 antivirus apps running at the same time can cause performance or system issues. If one antivirus won’t be able to remove the ad popups, uninstall it and install another one. Do this until the issue is fixed.

Fix #2: Restart to safe mode and uninstall apps

Another effective but less streamlined method of knowing what app may be causing the ad popups is by booting your device to safe mode and then removing suspected apps. When on safe mode, no third party apps and services should be running. Since ad popups can only work together with a third party app or service, you can expect that they won’t be present when your device is on safe mode. If that’s the case, you can do a trial-and-error method of identifying what app is causing the problem.

To boot your phone to safe mode:

  1. Turn the device off.
  2. Press and hold the Power key past the model name screen appearing on the screen.
  3. When SAMSUNG appears on the screen, release the Power key.
  4. Immediately after releasing the Power key, press and hold the Volume down key.
  5. Continue to hold the Volume down key until the device finishes restarting.
  6. When Safe mode appears in the bottom left corner of the screen, release the Volume down key.
  7. Let your J7 run for a few minutes and check if ad popups show. If the don’t you can bet one of the apps is to blame.

To identify which of your apps is causing the trouble, you should boot the phone back to safe mode and follow these steps:

  1. Boot to safe mode.
  2. Check for the problem.
  3. Once you’ve confirmed that a third party app is to blame, you can start uninstalling apps individually. We suggest that you begin with the most recent ones you added.
  4. After you uninstall an app, restart the phone to normal mode and check for the problem.
  5. If your S9 is still problematic, repeat steps 1-4.

Fix #3: Factory reset

The best method of cleaning an infected Android device is by wiping it out. Sure, factory reset is tedious method and involves action-intensive preparations like backing up files, apps, etc but it’s a surefire way of getting rid of viruses or malware. We highly recommend it in your case because you don’t seem to know what you did or what app is causing the problem.

To factory reset your J7:

  1. Make a backup of your personal data.
  2. Turn off the device.
  3. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Bixby key, then press and hold the Power key.
  4. When the green Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
  5. Press the Volume down key several times to highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset’.
  6. Press Power button to select.
  7. Press the Volume down key until ‘Yes — delete all user data’ is highlighted.
  8. Press Power button to select and start the master reset.
  9. When the master reset is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
  10. Press the Power key to restart the device.

How to prevent viruses or malware from coming back

Your job in fixing the situation does not end with factory reset. There’s a chance that you’ll fall to the same mistake again after wiping the phone by installing the same bad app, or visiting the same malicious website. There’s only so much that phone manufacturers like Samsung or Android developers like Google can do to help you with your phone’s security. You are the first line of defense of your device. Once a bad app has been installed, or once you’ve clicked on a malicious link, your smartphone will most likely become infected again. Eventually, you’ll find yourself in the same situation and starts blaming something else for it. To save yourself from such pointless trouble, you want to make sure that you are careful with your actions when it comes to app installation or when visiting websites or clicking on email links. You did not mention ever rooting your device or flashing a non-Samsung firmware so we assume your J7 runs the official software.

Be mindful of apps you install

Most viruses or malware are spread by apps nowadays so we want to emphasize that your phone’s security largely depends on the quality of apps you install. If you install apps by impulse, you’ll most likely fail to screen it properly.

One of the best ways to ensuring that you only install good apps is by checking the reviews from other users. If a lot of users are reporting problems with that app, or if there’s a significant number of comments about ad popups showing after installing the app, you better stay away from it. Apps from Google Play Store provides reviews so make use of them to know more about the app.

No such thing as free app

Apps take time, labor, and money to build. Don’t be naive to think that there are hundreds of thousands of people out there who wants to invest their resources just to create an app to make anonymous Android users happy. Apps also require maintenance cost in order to continue working. Majority of free apps show legit ads to cover cost but a lot of them also utilize less than ideal tricks to get money. One of such tricks is forcing ad popups be displayed on target devices. Other tricks used by malicious developers is by forcing redirects to Google Play Store page so a user can install a sponsor app. Still, others may directly steal information from a device. If you are serious about blocking ad popups, start by making sure you only install trustworthy apps from reputable developers.

 

Engage with us

If you are one of the users who encounters a problem with your device, let us know. We offer solutions for Android-related problems for free so if you have an issue with your Android device, simply fill in the short questionnaire in this link and we will try to publish our answers in the next posts. We cannot guarantee a quick response so if your issue is time sensitive, please find another way to resolve your problem.

If you find this post helpful, please help us by spreading the word to your friends. TheDroidGuy has social network presence as well so you may want to interact with our community in our Facebook and Google+ pages.

Reasons why Galaxy J7 won’t charge or won’t turn on, other issues

We understand that a lot of #GalaxyJ7 users are experiencing power- and charging-related problems so here’s another article that tackles these problems.

If you are looking for solutions to your own #Android issue, you can contact us by using the link provided at the bottom of this page.

When describing your issue, please be as detailed as possible so we can easily pinpoint a relevant solution. If you can, kindly include the exact error messages you are getting to give us an idea where to start. If you have already tried some troubleshooting steps before emailing us, make sure to mention them so we can skip them in our answers.

Below are specific topics we’re bringing for you today:

Problem 1: Reasons why Galaxy J7 won’t charge or won’t turn on

Hello! I haven’t been able to use my Samsung Galaxy J7 2016 since the 8th of October when it just wouldn’t charge with my car charger. Neither with its original charger. I was driving on SLEX on my way back to Manila then. I was using Waze. The battery was at 13% so I decided to connect it to my car charger. It didn’t charge at all. I bought my phone August 7, 2016 and it has just been 1 year since I got it. It’s never been opened by any technician nor repaired. By the way, it didn’t drop nor got submerged into water. I was wondering what the problem is. Thanks for your help! — Keempee Concepcion

Solution: Hi Keempee. There’s a number of possible causes why a smartphone like your Galaxy J7 suddenly stops charging. Since we don’t know the full history of your device, let’s discuss all the possible causes.

Restart the device

Sometimes, operating system bugs can occur when a device has been left way too long in operation. Just as a PC slows down after continuous usage, an Android device can also suffer performance issues and other problems if it remains on for weeks. Be sure to restart the phone to refresh the system. Alternatively, you can also try a soft reset to see if it will help the phone recover. Since the phone’s battery is removable, a soft reset for this type of phone is simply — by removing the battery and reseating it after 10 seconds.

Verify if charging cable and adapter are working

Another simple troubleshooting step that should be tried in this case is to check the charging accessories. Android devices are almost always compatible with other Android chargers and cable so this should not be a problem. If you have another Samsung device or a third party Android phone, try to use its USB cable and charger and see if that will revive the charging function of your device. In a lot of cases, the main reason why a phone fails to charge is a bad charging cable or adapter. If you haven’t checked any or both of them, make sure that you do now.

Charge the phone using a different power outlet

There’s always a chance that the current power outlet is busted so if you tend to charge in your favorite outlet at home, try using another known working one. For example, you can try to connect your phone to a powered USB port of your computer, or to a power bank to see if it works that way. Be sure to connect the phone for at least 30 minutes to ensure that there’s enough time to recharge the battery. If your phone charges fine this way, then the issue must lie with your car charger and/or your favorite outlet at home.

Verify the charging port is not defective

While it may be difficult for an untrained eye to spot possible problem with a charging port in a J7, it’s still worth checking. A telltale sign that a charging port may be broken is a bent pin inside the socket. Check the device in a well-lit environment and see if you can spot anything out of the ordinary. If you have access to a magnifying tool like the one being used in electronic shops, use that to inspect the socket. Any dirt or bent pin can be the reason why the phone no longer charges the battery. If you notice something amiss inside, make sure to consult a professional on how to address it. A bent pin prevents charging since the metal contacts may not connect to the metal contacts of the charging cable. Avoid sticking something inside the port as that can further damage other pins.

If you think the port is dirty, you can try to use a can of compressed air to blow lint or dirt out. If you’re lucky and dirt will be dislodged this way, you may be able to fix the problem.

Use another battery

The good thing with your device is the fact that its battery is removable. This means that if the problem is isolated to the battery only, replacing it is an easy fix. How will you know, you’ll ask, if it’s a battery problem? It’s really simple; just use another battery. If you know someone with the same phone, try using his/her battery and see if that will power your phone back on. If you don’t have access to another J7 battery, try to visit local shops that deal with issues like yours and see if they can let you use a known working J7 battery. Avoid buying a new battery outright as you don’t have a way of knowing conclusively if it’s a battery issue.

Try to boot the device to alternate modes

One of the possible reasons why your device fails to charge may be an Android glitch. To check, you can try to restart the phone to other boot modes namely Recovery Mode and Download/Odin Mode. These modes run independently of Android, meaning they don’t require Android operating system to operate. They use a different code so they don’t depend on Android to work. As long as the main reason for the problem is not motherboard- or hardware-related, the phone should be able to turn back on one way or another.

To boot to alternate modes, follow these steps:

Boot in Recovery mode:

  1. Charge the phone for at least 30 minutes.
  2. Press and then hold the Home and Volume UP keys, then press and hold the Power key.
  3. When the Samsung Galaxy logo shows on the screen, release the Power key but continue holding the Home and Volume Up keys.
  4. When the Android logo shows, you may release both keys and leave the phone be for about 30 to 60 seconds.
  5. You can either wipe the cache partition or do a factory reset when in this mode.

Boot in Download Mode:

  1. Charge the phone for at least 30 minutes.
  2. Press and then hold the Home and Volume DOWN keys, then press and hold the Power key.
  3. When the Samsung Galaxy logo shows on the screen, release the Power key but continue holding the Home and Volume DOWN keys.
  4. Wait until the Download screen appears.
  5. If you can boot the phone in download mode but not in other modes, that means that your only way out may be to flash a stock or custom firmware.
  6. Use Google to look for a guide on how to do it.

If your phone boots to any of these modes, that’s a good sign as the problem may be fixed by either a factory reset or by rolling back/flashing the firmware.

Contact Samsung or any relevant party for repair

If all the steps above won’t work at all, that means that the issue must be due to hardware malfunction. You should let Samsung or an independent service center check the device to determine the problem. Hardware causes of this kind can be due to a bad battery, a malfunctioning power management IC, or an unknown component failure. For this reason, you must let a professional handle the diagnostics.

Problem 2: Galaxy J7 won’t charge, battery level continues to drop even when charging

I took the back panel of the phone off, and discovered there was water in it, and and sort of burnt smell. Ever since then, when I plug it in, it shows that it’s charging, but it continues to drop charge. I do not believe it is the battery because it charges when in an family members J3, just not in mine. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. — Robby.catney

Solution: Hi Robby.catney. If water has found its way in your phone for some reason, there must be a failing hardware component that causes the problem/s you’re having at this time. Be sure to bring the device to a shop that handles wet electronics so a full diagnostics can be done. Our blog does not provide hardware troubleshooting and solutions so there’s nothing much that we can do to help.

To see if there’s no serious hardware malfunction in the device, you can try to take the components apart and dry the device using a bag of rice. Before you put it in a bag of rice, be sure to clean everything using the type of alcohol that repair shops use. Before you do the cleaning, make sure that the battery is disconnected to avoid shorting components. After you’ve cleaned everything with alcohol, that’s the time that you can leave the dismantled parts in a bag of rice for several days. For more in-depth steps on how to dry an electronics using a bag of rice, be sure to do more research about it.

Remember, drying the components won’t fix any damage already present in affected components. If the phone remains problematic after reassembling everything, contact Samsung or a professional for help.

Problem 3: Galaxy J7 black screen issue, won’t turn on

I was looking at my phone and as I clicked on an app my phone screen went black and I haven’t been able to turn it back on since. I have followed all the steps I read online for troubleshooting your phone. it is definitely not a charging problem as the battery was on 50% however if I put it on charge the light that would usually appear at the top of the phone to indicate charging does not appear. It just seems as though my phone has died out of nowhere. I’m currently out of the country and there for can’t get it looked at by anyone. Please can you help. — Frankie

Solution: Hi Frankie. We’ve provided a detailed list of possible reasons why your phone may not charge or turn on at all. Be sure to visit our suggestions for Keempee above and see if any of them will help.

 

Engage with us

If you are one of the users who encounters a problem with your device, let us know. We offer solutions for Android-related problems for free so if you have an issue with your Android device, simply fill in the short questionnaire in this link and we will try to publish our answers in the next posts. We cannot guarantee a quick response so if your issue is time sensitive, please find another way to resolve your problem.

If you find this post helpful, please help us by spreading the word to your friends. TheDroidGuy has social network presence as well so you may want to interact with our community in our Facebook and Google+ pages.

How to fix a water damaged Galaxy J7, opens Download Mode on its own

The #GalaxyJ7 does not enjoy IP68 certification like the Galaxy S7 and S8 so even a tiny amount of water can potentially damage it. Today’s troubleshooting article deals with how with a wet Galaxy J7 and how to minimize damage to it. We also address one curious situation raised by a user as his J7 appears to boot to Odin Mode on its own. We hope you’ll find this post helpful.

If you are looking for solutions to your own #Android issue, you can contact us by using the link provided at the bottom of this page.

When describing your issue, please be as detailed as possible so we can easily pinpoint a relevant solution. If you can, kindly include the exact error messages you are getting to give us an idea where to start. If you have already tried some troubleshooting steps before emailing us, make sure to mention them so we can skip them in our answers.

Problem 1: How to fix a water damaged Galaxy J7

My phone got wet yesterday (but not submerged totally) and i didn’t notice until like 20 minutes after it got wet. I took it apart and wiped it out and then when I put the battery back in the flashlight lights up but the phone won’t power on. Does that mean my phone is totally fried? I had it in a bag of cornmeal (didn’t have rice) and it seems to be more dry (no more condensation beads inside the camera lenses) but it still does the same thing when I put in the battery and wont power on. Do you think I should plug it in to warm it up and help it dry? I don’t know what to do. Is there any hope for my phone? I really don’t want to have to buy a new phone. Please help. BTW I don’t know the android version below. — Hopeferguson30

Solution: Hi Hopeferguson30. A Galaxy J7 and its variants do not have water-resistance protection so they are more vulnerable to water exposure than, say, the Galaxy S7 and S8. If your J7 was working normally before you got it wet, water must have damaged one of the components. Usually, if a phone fails to power on after being exposed to water, it’s usually the result of a damaged battery or shorted power IC. It’s not a good sign and a case like that tends to end up with repair. We’re not very optimistic with your case since the phone is already exhibiting signs of hardware malfunction at this time. Obviously, you can’t fix, say a broken battery, with a software solution. If battery was damaged by water, the least that you can do is to get a new one and swap the damaged one with it. The same principle applies to other damaged components and even the motherboard.

For the benefit of other users who may have similar circumstances, we’ll try to discuss the things that you can do if a smartphone gets wet. We’ll also include the DON’TS in these situations as they are just as important as the DOs.

What NOT TO DO if your smartphone gets wet:

  • Turn the phone back on. Never attempt to power on a wet electronics unless you’re planning to quickly deliver a killing blow. A wet motherboard can cause electricity to take shorter routes to other components they’re not supposed to be directly connected to. If a short occurs in a motherboard, a number of components may get damaged permanently. Basically, you want to avoid activating the circuits of a wet board which may lead to permanent issues later on. If your phone is already off, leave it as it is.
  • Attempt to charge your phone. Like turning on your phone, charging a wet electronics can damage components when a short circuit occurs. Never do it.
  • Place the phone near an oven, direct sunlight or heat source. There’s a proper way to dry out a wet phone. Never take the shorter route of drying it up too quickly. Doing so will most likely be a death sentence for the hardware rather than a saving act. Like water, too much heat can kill electronic components.

What needs to be done if you have a wet phone

Promptly doing the right steps when dealing with a wet phone is very important in preventing damage or minimizing it. Remember, water and electronics don’t mix. Even water-resistant phones are not meant to be exposed to water intentionally. The steps we provide below are more of a “first aid” application rather than cure. If your phone has already suffered hardware damage following its initial contact with water, the most that you can do is to minimize further damage. You’ll still need to send the phone in later so a technician can repair or replace the damaged component.

Step #1: Take the phone out of the water immediately

This is common sense. Any normal smartphone user will even have the reflex to do so. Unless you want to torture your non-water resistant phone a little longer, taking it out of water is a must-do.

Step #2: Check the What NOT TO DO section above.

Step #3: Disassemble the phone

Ideally, the phone must be taken apart right after taking it out of the water but since that’s easily said than done, we suggest that you limit yourself to user-removable parts only. If your phone is in a case, make sure to remove it. Take out the SIM card and SD card if you have them. The same is true for the battery (for units with removable batteries only). Remember, going beyond user-removable parts may void whatever warranty your phone has at the moment. Once you’ve broken the warranty of your device, Samsung may or may not fix the device for a fee. Unless you are confident that you can handle to open the phone further up and dismantle a non-removable battery and disconnect it from the motherboard (and of course ready to pay for out-of-warranty repair should you’ll fail to make your device work again afterwards), don’t even attempt it. Opening up a phone is complicated, especially for first timers.

If you can dismantle the phone to its barest minimum though, make sure that you do to reduce the number of nooks and crannies where moisture can hide. Doing so will avoid damaging more components and will allow for faster drying out of the parts later on.

Step #4: Dry out the phone

There’s a few ways to dry out a wet phone. In our experience, any of them can work as long as you do it properly. Just make sure that you wipe the phone or components with clean soft cloth first. Once you’ve done that, you can then proceed to do any of the tricks below.

Dry the phone using the rice trick

Some experts suggest putting a phone or the dismantled parts in a bag of rice and let it dry for a few days. Many households has easy access to rice so it can be a handy ingredient to use. Assuming you’ve already wiped dry the components, you then need to put them in a bag of rice. Make sure that you bury everything in rice. Rice is good at absorbing moisture but it can take days to do this job. If you have time to kill, this should be the most handy option for you. Make sure that you use a sealed bag like a ziplock.

Dry the phone using silica gel

Silica gel is often found in boxes of electronics. Like rice, silica gel is effective in keeping its surroundings dry. Consumers from humid countries often encounter silica gel in their electronic boxes. If you don’t have any idea what a silica gel is, try to visit your local electronics shop or any electronic or electrical store in your area an ask for them. Buy as many as you need since you want to cover your phone or dismantled components with it. Like in using rice, make sure to leave your phone in a bag surrounded by silica gel packets for at least 3 days to dry out the parts completely. Use a ziplock to seal everything inside.

Let a professional dry your phone

Repair shops that handle wet electronics have a special tool that can dry devices in a matter of minutes or hours. If money is not an issue, let a professional handle the entire drying and repair processes for you.

Step #5: Attempt to power on the phone

After drying your phone for a few days, take it out from the bag and reassemble everything. Afterwards, turn the phone back on and see what happens. If everything is back to how they were before (no observable problems), then make sure to keep looking out for issues in the next few days. If you’re lucky, the phone should work out just fine.

Step #6: Send it in for repair

If the phone won’t turn back on, or if you’ll notice obvious signs of damage or problems, then you need to let a professional check the hardware to see what’s wrong with the device. Exposing a phone to water can lead to almost anything so there’s really no telling what might be damaged or not.

Problem 2: Galaxy J7 opens Download Mode on its own

I have a Samsung J7 max. This morning i went to check my missed texts and calls and my device is in a boot up mode and advising it is Downloading do not turn off device. The boot option it was on is “secure download enable”  the power ran down so after recharging the device i now find that it’s back to normal. What caused this? should i be concerned? has my phone been hacked? how can i tell? What should i do? — Gary Marshall

Solution: Hi Gary. “Downloading … do not turn off device” screen is what we call Odin Mode. It’s a separate software environment from Android in Samsung devices to allow technicians or users to make changes to the software. For example, if you want to use a non-official firmware for your device, you need to boot your device to Odin Mode or Download Mode first in order to perform a flashing procedure.

Accessing Odin Mode is arrived by doing the following steps:

  1. Press and then hold the Home and Volume Down keys, then press and hold the Power key.
  2. When the Samsung Galaxy logo shows on the screen, release the Power key but continue holding the Home and Volume Down keys.

As you can see, there’s a specific set of hardware button combinations that needs to be pressed to access Odin Mode. Without pressing the right buttons, your phone shouldn’t go to Odin Mode, unless there’s a software bug that causes it to do on its own.

We usually see Samsung devices go to Download Mode on their own after a failed flashing procedure, or if they’re using custom, non-official firmware. If you did make system changes to the software lately, then there the cause must be coming from that.

If your phone was never modified or runs custom software, then it may be a one-time bug. We don’t think your phone is hacked but if it is, that’s probably because you’ve installed a malicious app in the first place. Make sure that you know you’re only installing safe apps from verified, reputable developers.

 

Engage with us

If you are one of the users who encounters a problem with your device, let us know. We offer solutions for Android-related problems for free so if you have an issue with your Android device, simply fill in the short questionnaire in this link and we will try to publish our answers in the next posts. We cannot guarantee a quick response so if your issue is time sensitive, please find another way to resolve your problem.

If you find this post helpful, please help us by spreading the word to your friends. TheDroidGuy has social network presence as well so you may want to interact with our community in our Facebook and Google+ pages.

What to do if Galaxy J7 can’t use custom notification sounds for contacts after Android Oreo update

Many Android users are disappointed to know that they can no longer use custom ringtone and notification sounds after updating their #GalaxyJ7 to Android Oreo. If you’re one of those users, make sure to read on why this is so and how to fix it.

Before we proceed, we want to remind you that if you are looking for solutions to your own #Android issue, you can contact us by using the link provided at the bottom of this page. When describing your issue, please be as detailed as possible so we can easily pinpoint a relevant solution. If you can, kindly include the exact error messages you are getting to give us an idea where to start. If you have already tried some troubleshooting steps before emailing us, make sure to mention them so we can skip them in our answers.

Problem #1: Galaxy J7 can’t use custom notification sounds for contacts after Android Oreo update

Android updated software yesterday on my Samsung J7. It seems they removed the feature of being able to have separate ringtones for messaging; I can’t find that feature in the edit section of contacts any longer. Is there any way to recover that or has Android basically screwed everyone over by removing it with the latest update?  

Solution: This is a recent development and only observed on Samsung devices.

Reason why custom notifications no longer works

If your Galaxy J7 has updated to Android Oreo, that can be the reason why your messaging app has lost the ability to use custom or non-default notification sounds. This is definitely not Android Oreo’s fault. Other Android devices running this Android version can still continue using non-default notification sounds. What we know so far is that it’s just a Samsung Messages app issue. Other messaging apps like Google’s Android Messages, Chomp, Textra, etc. can still use custom ringtones and notifications after Android Oreo update.

Use another messaging app

There’s no word from Samsung if they’re planning on bringing back this capability on their own Messages app so if you really want to have a customized notification sound for certain contacts, we suggest that you use another app. There’s no need to uninstall Samsung Messages app (you can’t anyway) so once you’ve installed a new messaging app, simply open it and make it as the default. We would suggest that you use Android Messages app from Google. You can also visit the Play Store for other similar third party messaging apps.

Problem #2: Galaxy J7 keeps getting deleted text messages when rebooted

Hi there. After the most recent update on my Samsung Galaxy J7, anytime after my phone is rebooted or restarted… I get a MASSIVE amount of deleted received messages sent to my phone again. I literally received 147 “new” messages within 10 minutes of my phone rebooting itself. These were all deleted messages. Every time I power off/back on my device, the same thing happens. Though this time, I only had to delete 46 “new” text messages over again. It’s fairly annoying. Any clue how to correct it?

Solution: If you have a carrier-branded J7, meaning your device runs the software of a specific carrier, the problem may be caused by a bug somewhere in the system. It’s also possible that this comes from the network side. To fix it, here are the things that you can try:

Forced Reboot

This is the first basic step when troubleshooting any Android issue. To forcefully clear the system, we recommend that you do a forced reboot instead of doing a normal restart. To do that, simply remove the back cover of the phone and disconnect the battery for 10 seconds. Afterwards, put the battery back in and observe the phone. If the problem returns, proceed to the next steps below.

Cache partition wipe

Wiping the cache partition is a necessary troubleshooting step especially if the problem occurs right after a system update. Sometimes, the system cache may get corrupted after an Android update, causing all sorts of issues. To fix the problem, you want to clear the cache partition with these steps:

  1. Turn off the device.
  2. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home key, then press and hold the Power key.
  3. When the device logo screen displays, release only the Power key
  4. When the Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
  5. Press the Volume down key several times key to highlight ‘wipe cache partition.’
  6. Press the Power key to select.
  7. Press the Volume down key to highlight ‘yes’ and press the Power key to select.
  8. When the wipe cache partition is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
  9. Press the Power key to restart the device.

Clear messaging app cache

To check if your text messaging app has a cache problem, the following steps should do:

  1. Open Settings app.
  2. Tap Apps.
  3. Tap on More settings at the upper right (three-dot icon).
  4. Select Show system apps.
  5. Find and tap your app.
  6. Tap Storage.
  7. Tap Clear Cache button.
  8. Restart your J7 and check for the problem.

Clear messaging app data

Another way to deal with the text messaging app directly is to ensure that you clear its data. By doing so, you are clearing the app’s customizations and other user-related information. You will also be returning the app to its factory defaults so be sure to back your messages up ahead of time. You can use Smart Switch to back your phone’s software information to your PC.

To clear an app’s data:

  1. Open Settings app.
  2. Tap Apps.
  3. Tap on More settings at the upper right (three-dot icon).
  4. Select Show system apps.
  5. Find and tap your app.
  6. Tap Storage.
  7. Tap Clear Data button.
  8. Restart your J7 and check for the problem.

Reset network settings

Some text messaging issues are sometimes caused by incorrect cellular configuration in a device. Some network settings may have changed after updating to Oreo so you want to ensure that everything is back to their proper configurations. To do that, make sure that you reset your network settings with these steps:

  1. From the Home screen, swipe up on an empty spot to open the Apps tray.
  2. Tap General Management > Reset settings.
  3. Tap Reset network settings.
  4. If you have set up a PIN, enter it.
  5. Tap Reset settings. Once complete a confirmation window will appear.

Clear SIM Toolkit data

Some users were able to successfully fix text messaging issues by clearing their SIM Toolkit app. This is the app that manages your SIM card functions and if it’s become buggy after an update, this may be the reason why deleted texts are being resent to your device. To clear the SIM Toolkit app data, follow the steps above on how to clear an app’s data.

Contact carrier

If all our suggestions above fail to fix the problem, the most likely reason for it must be coming from your network. In other words, there may be an issue with the system of your network operator to send previously deleted messages. Keep in mind that your network operator keeps a copy of your messages for some time before they are permanently purged from their system. The solution may be beyond your carrier’s customer service department so be sure to escalate the issue to higher support team.

 

Engage with us

If you are one of the users who encounters a problem with your device, let us know. We offer solutions for Android-related problems for free so if you have an issue with your Android device, simply fill in the short questionnaire in this link and we will try to publish our answers in the next posts. We cannot guarantee a quick response so if your issue is time sensitive, please find another way to resolve your problem.

If you find this post helpful, please help us by spreading the word to your friends. TheDroidGuy has social network presence as well so you may want to interact with our community in our Facebook and Google+ pages.

How to fix your Samsung Galaxy J7 that started running slow [Troubleshooting Guide]

When the phone like the Samsung Galaxy J7 starts running slow after months of use, it doesn’t necessary mean there’s a problem. Perhaps it’s just running low on storage space or some apps may have crashed and affected the performance. Of course, there are also cases wherein the phone slowed down due to an issue with the firmware or a serious problem with the hardware. The point is, we won’t know for sure what’s causing the problem unless we did something to your device.

So, in this post, I will tackle an issue involving the Samsung Galaxy J7, which, according to some of our readers, started to run very slow and it would take forever to open apps. We will try to look into the problem and eliminate one possibility after another until we can pinpoint what the real problem is.

Before anything else though, if you have other issues with your device, then visit our Galaxy J7 troubleshooting page for we have already addressed several common problems with this phone. Odds are that there are already existing solutions to your problems so just take time finding issues that are similar with yours. If you can’t find one or if you need further assistance, feel free to contact us by completing our Android issues questionnaire. Please provide us with as much information as possible so that it would also be easier for us to troubleshoot the problem. Don’t worry as we offer this service for free, so all you have to do is give us sufficient information about the problem.

Step-by-step guide to troubleshooting Galaxy J7 that’s running slow


While we don’t suggest procedures that can potentially damage your phone further, things might still happen while you’re troubleshooting so proceed at your own risk. Now, before we jump to the steps, here’s one problem sent by one of our readers that best describes this issue:

Problem: My phone is a Galaxy J7. I know there’s something wrong with it because it takes so long to open the texting app whereas before, it would only take a second or two and I can immediately read the text messages. Now, my phone keeps lagging and when it’s working, it’s very slow. Not really sure what caused this that’s why I’m asking for your help because maybe you have an idea how to bring my phone back to its optimum performance.

Troubleshooting: After months of use, we can expect a device to run a bit slower than its original performance especially if you’re already installed a lot of apps and stored many large documents but it should never be as slow as how our reader described the performance of his phone above. So, for this kind of problem, this is what I suggest you do:

Step 1: Reboot in safe mode try to see if there’s a difference in performance

Such procedure will temporarily disable all third-party apps and this will tell you if there’s a difference in performance when the phone is running with all those installed apps running in the background than when they’re disabled. If your device is running perfectly well in safe mode, then your third-party apps have something to do with the problem. You may have to find the culprits and uninstall them one-by-one until you’re satisfied with how the phone perform. Here’s how you boot your phone in safe mode:

  1. Turn the device off.
  2. Press and hold the Power key past the screen with the device name.
  3. When ‘SAMSUNG’ appears on the screen, release the Power key.
  4. Immediately after releasing the Power key, press and hold the Volume down key.
  5. Continue to hold the Volume down key until the device finishes restarting.
  6. Safe mode will display in the bottom left corner of the screen.
  7. Release the Volume down key when you see ‘Safe Mode’.

Assuming the phone performs well in safe mode, then find the apps that cause the problem, clear their caches and data and if that won’t work, uninstall them one-by-one.

How to clear app cache and data on Galaxy J7

  1. From any Home screen, tap the Apps icon.
  2. Tap Settings.
  3. Tap Applications.
  4. Tap Application manager.
  5. Tap the desired application in the default list or tap MORE > Show system apps to display pre-installed apps.
  6. Tap Storage.
  7. Tap Clear cache.
  8. Tap Clear data and then tap OK.

How to uninstall apps from your Galaxy J7

  1. From any Home screen, tap the Apps icon.
  2. Tap Settings.
  3. Tap Applications.
  4. Tap Application manager.
  5. Tap the desired application
  6. Tap Uninstall.
  7. Tap Uninstall again to confirm.

Step 2: Delete all system caches as some of them are corrupt

Your phone creates temporary files when it uses an app or services so that the next time you use them, they will quicker and smoother. These files are called ‘caches’ and they are prone to corruption. When it happens, a lot of performance related issues may occur including this one. So, you have to delete them so that they’ll be replaced with new ones. Here’s how you do it:

  1. Turn off the device.
  2. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home key, then press and hold the Power key.
  3. When the device logo screen displays, release only the Power key
  4. When the Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
  5. Press the Volume down key several times key to highlight ‘wipe cache partition.’
  6. Press the Power key to select.
  7. Press the Volume down key to highlight ‘yes’ and press the Power key to select.
  8. When the wipe cache partition is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
  9. Press the Power key to restart the device.

If the phone still runs very slowly after doing this, then do the next step.

Step 3: Backup your files and then do the Master Reset

This problem is basically just a minor one and I’m pretty sure it can be resolved by a reset. But before you do that, be sure to make a backup of  your important files as they will be deleted. After the backup, disable the Factory Reset Protection (FRP) or the anti-theft feature so you won’t be locked out of your phone after the reset.

How to disable FRP or anti-theft on Galaxy J7

To turn off the device anti-theft, you will have to sign out of your Google ID on the device and elect to not sign in with a Google ID into any Google services. Once you sign in with a Google ID to any service and setup a PIN, password or fingerprint lock, you are automatically turning on anti-theft. To sign out of your Google ID, follow these steps:

  1. From the Home screen, tap the Apps icon.
  2. Tap Settings.
  3. Tap Accounts.
  4. Tap Google.
  5. Tap your Google ID email address. If you have multiple accounts setup, you will need to repeat these steps for each account.
  6. Tap More.
  7. Tap Remove account.
  8. Tap REMOVE ACCOUNT.

How to do the Master Reset on your Galaxy J7

A master reset restores the original factory settings and may delete your personal data on the internal storage, such as downloads, ringtones, images, apps, contacts, and Visual Voicemail. It does not delete data stored on the SIM card or SD card.

  1. Turn off the device.
  2. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home key, then press and hold the Power key.
  3. When the device logo screen displays, release only the Power key
  4. When the Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
  5. Press the Volume down key several times key to highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset.’
  6. Press Power button to select.
  7. Press the Volume down key until ‘Yes — delete all user data’ is highlighted.
  8. Press Power button to select and start the master reset.
  9. When the master reset is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
  10. Press the Power key to restart the device.

I hope this troubleshooting guide helps.

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How to fix Galaxy J7 Prime that won’t charge properly, or battery level is erratic

Hello Android community! Today, we bring you another post that addresses common issues for one of Samsung’s most popular phones, the Galaxy J7 (#GalaxyJ7). We hope you’ll find this post helpful.

Before we proceed, we want to remind you that if you are looking for solutions to your own #Android issue, you can contact us by using the link provided at the bottom of this page. When describing your issue, please be as detailed as possible so we can easily pinpoint a relevant solution. If you can, kindly include the exact error messages you are getting to give us an idea where to start. If you have already tried some troubleshooting steps before emailing us, make sure to mention them so we can skip them in our answers.

Problem #1: How to fix Galaxy J7 Prime that won’t charge properly, or battery level is erratic

My Samsung Galaxy J7 prime does this weird thing that has been happening for a couple weeks. It doesn’t show that it is charging but the battery percentage increases, but very slowly. For the past couple of days it hasn’t been charging at all. When it dies completely it doesn’t turn on. Magically somehow it says when i put it on the charger that it charges, but still wont let me turn it on. sometimes doesn’t even say its charging. When i’m finally able to turn it on it either has charged around 50% or didn’t charge at all and is at 2%. I’m most likely going to but a replacement battery but i don’t know if that will fix my problem because the battery charges just only sometimes.

Solution: The problem is most probably caused by bad battery. Before you replace it, we suggest that you try to recalibrate Android and the battery to see if the issue is due to a software bug only.

Battery calibration

Calibration of Android and battery is usually effective in fixing power issues if the operating system has simply lost track of the battery levels. This usually happens if the device has been working for a long time. To recalibrate the OS and battery, follow the steps below:

  1. Drain the battery completely. This means using your device until it powers down by its own and the battery level reads 0%.
  2. Charge the phone until it reaches 100%. Be sure to use original charging equipment for your device and let it charge up completely. Do not unplug your device for at least two more hours and also don’t use it while charging.
  3. After the elapsed time, unplug your device.
  4. Restart the device.
  5. Use your phone until it completely runs out of power again.
  6. Repeat steps 1-5.

Factory reset

In this situation, it’s also highly recommended that you try a factory reset before getting a new battery to see if there’s any software issue behind the random charging or not booting issue. Make sure to back your files up before you factory reset to prevent losing data.

To factory reset your J7:

  1. Turn off the device.
  2. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home key, then press and hold the Power key.
  3. When the green Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
  4. Press the Volume down key several times to highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset’.
  5. Press Power button to select.
  6. Press the Volume down key until ‘Yes — delete all user data’ is highlighted.
  7. Press Power button to select and start the master reset.
  8. When the master reset is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
  9. Press the Power key to restart the device.
  10. Let the phone run for 24 hours without adding any apps.

Problem #2: Galaxy J7 stopped turning on after it got wet

So, my son spilled some perfume on my wife’s Galaxy J7 about 2-3 months ago. We did the whole drying out things for days; removed the battery, SIM card, Micro SD card and essentially left it bare bones for about 3-4 days. At this point , we tried to hook it back and charge it but nothing. No blinking lights, flashing screen, no error message….. it just does not turn on. We’ve already purchased a new phone but, I was just wondering if this phone were salvageable at all. Any insight you can offer would be greatly appreciated.

Solution: If the phone was working normally before it got wet, then the phone must have encountered a hardware error, or its hardware was permanently damaged. Try using another known working J7 battery and see if the phone turns back on. If it doesn’t, the liquid must have damaged the motherboard. Let a professional check the hardware to see if it can be fixed or not.

Problem #3: Galaxy J7 stops turning on after installing Android Oreo update

I have a J7 updated to Oreo over one month ago without issues. It has been used intensively for 2.5 years. Today while browsing on Samsung internet it locked up and became unresponsive, various artists to reboot failed and eventually I managed to wipe the cached and factory reset, but there were error messages on the boot menu. Since factory reset it has gone completely dead, no response to any button combination and no light when charging, but wireless charger shows that the phone is taking a charge and I’ve had it plugged in to it’s original charger for an hour. My suspicion is that it has suffered a hardware failure, is there anything else I could try?

Solution: Unfortunately, there’s very little that you can do in this situation. Obviously, you can’t perform software troubleshooting when the phone is off so you’re limited to doing basic things like using another set of charging accessories (in case the issue is caused by bad charging cable or adapter), checking the charging port, and using or replacing the battery. If you’ve already tried all of them before contacting us, then yes, there must be an issue with the hardware. To fix it, you must let a technician check the device so they can advise you if it can be repaired or not.

Problem #4: What to do if Galaxy J7 is overheating and won’t turn on

(I’ve tried posting this on your comment boards, but I get a message about “being behind a proxy” – I know the word, but that’s about it – as far as I know, I don’t use such a thing). When plugged in to power, my J7 gets extremely hot but never charges – or at least it won’t turn on. It was supposed to be “brand new” (and it appears to be) but was opened to “update software.” Everything worked fine for the first 2 or 3 weeks “out of the box”.  I’m trying to decide if it’s worth putting money into it.

Solution: A brand new J7 should not experience charging problems 2 or 3 weeks out of the box. It’s most likely a defective pre-owned device so it’s probably a good idea to get rid of the phone in the long run.

A smartphone that won’t charge does not always mean that it’s because it has bad hardware. Sometimes, software bug can also lead to the same problem so if you’ve already tried using another set of charging cable and adapter and check the charging port, we suggest that you try a factory reset. This of course depends whether or not you are able to boot the device to Recovery Mode. If you can, follow the steps above on how to factory reset your J7.

If factory reset won’t change anything, you can also try to replace the battery. If that won’t fix the issue either, then assume that your phone’s hardware is defective.

 

Engage with us

If you are one of the users who encounters a problem with your device, let us know. We offer solutions for Android-related problems for free so if you have an issue with your Android device, simply fill in the short questionnaire in this link and we will try to publish our answers in the next posts. We cannot guarantee a quick response so if your issue is time sensitive, please find another way to resolve your problem.

If you find this post helpful, please help us by spreading the word to your friends. TheDroidGuy has social network presence as well so you may want to interact with our community in our Facebook and Google+ pages.

If you are one of the users who encounters a problem with your device, let us know. We offer solutions for Android-related problems for free so if you have an issue with your Android device, simply fill in the short questionnaire in this link and we will try to publish our answers in the next posts. We cannot guarantee a quick response so if your issue is time sensitive, please find another way to resolve your problem.

If you find this post helpful, please help us by spreading the word to your friends. TheDroidGuy has social network presence as well so you may want to interact with our community in our Facebook and Google+ pages.

How to fix Galaxy J7 texting or calling issues: not receiving text or call alerts

Hello and welcome to another #GalaxyJ7 troubleshooting article. Today’s post will try to answer three common issues that many J7 users encounter. We hope you’ll find our solutions helpful in fixing your own issues.

Before we proceed, we want to remind you that if you are looking for solutions to your own #Android issue, you can contact us by using the link provided at the bottom of this page. When describing your issue, please be as detailed as possible so we can easily pinpoint a relevant solution. If you can, kindly include the exact error messages you are getting to give us an idea where to start. If you have already tried some troubleshooting steps before emailing us, make sure to mention them so we can skip them in our answers.

Problem #1: How to fix Galaxy J7 texting or calling issues: not receiving text or call alerts

I have the J7 refine and I will be able to send/receive messages and receive phone calls with no problems and then someone will tell me they called or texted me several times. I check my phone, i have no missed calls and no messages but if I restart my phone right then, once it’s restarted all these messages and missed calls come through. It happens all the time, I could be at home with excellent service or at a friend’s where I am also connected. I have 4 bars and and full internet and wifi. I don’t understand why this keeps happening but I’m afraid I could miss a call or message and it could be an emergency! I don’t know what to do!!

Solution: At this point, there’s no telling what exactly is going on. Cellular issues of this type can be caused by anything. All you can do are basic device troubleshooting steps. If those steps won’t help or make any difference, it’s possible that the problem may be something that can’t be fixed on your end, or something on the network side.

Force reboot

To begin troubleshooting your device, you can force restart your phone. Sometimes, this simple procedure can fix bugs that developed after the system has run for a long time. Just turn off the phone, remove the battery, leave the phone off for about 10 seconds, then insert the battery again to power the phone back on. This should clear the memory (RAM) and refresh the system. This is, at times, enough to prevent bugs from running.

Install system and app updates

Don’t underestimate updates. In fact, sometimes, updates are even necessary in fixing network issues. Make sure that your phone’s firmware is up-to-date. The same is true for all apps.

Check for bad third party app

In case the problem is caused by a bad app, you can try to restart your phone to safe mode. Doing so will suspend all third party apps, allowing only pre-installed ones to run. If the problems are absent when your phone is on safe mode, that’s a clear indication that one of your apps is causing all these troubles.

To boot your J7 to safe mode:

  1. Turn the device off.
  2. Press and hold the Power key past the model name screen.
  3. When “SAMSUNG” appears on the screen, release the Power key.
  4. Immediately after releasing the Power key, press and hold the Volume down key.
  5. Continue to hold the Volume down key until the device finishes restarting.
  6. Safe mode will display in the bottom left corner of the screen.
  7. Release the Volume down key when you see Safe Mode.
  8. Observe the phone and see if the problems are present.

To identify which of your apps is causing the trouble, you should boot the phone back to safe mode and follow these steps:

  1. Boot to safe mode.
  2. Check for the problem.
  3. Once you’ve confirmed that a third party app is to blame, you can start uninstalling apps individually. We suggest that you begin with the most recent ones you added.
  4. After you uninstall an app, restart the phone to normal mode and check for the problem.
  5. If your J7 is still problematic, repeat steps 1-4.

Reset app preferences

Resetting app preferences is oftentimes overlooked in many Android troubleshooting articles but when it comes to an issue like yours, it might help a lot. It’s possible that one or some of your default apps may not be set correctly, causing this glitch to occur. Because there’s no way to know if this guess is true, what you need to do is to simply ensure that all default apps are turned on. Here’s how to do that:

  1. Open Settings app.
  2. Tap Apps.
  3. Tap on More settings at the upper right (three-dot icon).
  4. Select Reset app preferences.
  5. Restart your J7 and check for the problem.

Reset Network settings

This procedure is separate from the previous one as it covers all settings of your Android device and not just the apps. To do this, follow the steps below:

  1. From the Home screen, swipe up on an empty spot to open the Apps tray.
  2. Tap General Management > Reset settings.
  3. Tap Reset network settings.
  4. If you have set up a PIN, enter it.
  5. Tap Reset settings. Once complete a confirmation window will appear.

Factory reset

This is the last resort on your level. The goal is to return all software setting to their known working status. If the reason for the problem is due to a software bug, factory reset should fix it.

To factory reset your J7:

  1. Create a backup of your data.
  2. Turn off the device.
  3. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Bixby key, then press and hold the Power key.
  4. When the green Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
  5. Press the Volume down key several times to highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset’.
  6. Press Power button to select.
  7. Press the Volume down key until ‘Yes — delete all user data’ is highlighted.
  8. Press Power button to select and start the master reset.
  9. When the master reset is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
  10. Press the Power key to restart the device.
  11. Let the phone run for a few days but do not install any app. Try to replicate the problem.

Contact your network operator

Factory reset can only do so much in this case. If the main reason for the problem is not in the device itself, even a factory reset will be of no use. So, if the issue returns after a factory reset and even when there are no apps installed, your problem is not fixable on your end. Make sure that you let your network operator know about it so they can help you troubleshoot it.

Problem #2: What to do if Galaxy J7 loses battery fast

So I have been using this phone for almost 2 years now. It’s great! But since recently it’s power started draining fast. Either I watch Youtube or just stay on it and do nothing , but I got to admit that the phone is draining power the fastest when I watch Youtube. I got to add that I came from a trip with my class but there the power was doing the same. Is it because I use my mom’s charger? She is using a J5 2017. I used her charger since she got it and my phone was doing the same, but I used my charger too and my phone used to charge normally when I was using my charger. But now I got to use her instead to charge cause my phone is draining fast when I stay on it. My charger always charged my phone normal to slowly. I got to add that I used my charger on the trip and there I think it was charging faster. Is it because I used different outlets? Sorry for the too many “charge” words , Thank you!

Solution: After using your phone for 2 years, the battery may have simply lost significant capacity to hold a charge. Lithium-based batteries degrade over time so there’s fair chance that this is the main reason why your phone can’t stay as long it used to at this time. If you want to check this out, replace the current battery with a new official one from Samsung and see what happens.

Recalibrate the battery and Android

Battery degradation is just one of the possibilities. Another likely reason is Android needing calibration to detect battery levels. To see if that’s the case, try to calibrate the battery with these steps:

  1. Drain the battery completely. This means using your device until it powers down by its own and the battery level reads 0%.
  2. Charge the phone until it reaches 100%. Be sure to use original charging equipment for your device and let it charge up completely. Do not unplug your device for at least two more hours and also don’t use it while charging.
  3. After the elapsed time, unplug your device.
  4. Restart the device.
  5. Use your phone until it completely runs out of power again.
  6. Repeat steps 1-5.

Too many apps running in the background

While the number of apps may affect how fast battery drain goes, quality can also be another factor. Poorly coded apps, malicious apps, viruses, malware, can also play a role. Try to check battery usage under Settings and see what apps and services tops the list. If there are many you don’t recognize, they’re probably the reason why your battery drains so fast.

Keep in mind that even legit apps can also contribute to battery drain problem. For instance, frequent culprits in this situation include the likes of Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Twitter, and any other social networking apps. That’s because this type of apps require regular communication with remote servers to get new updates. If you have a lot of these apps installed and you have constant internet connection on your phone, they can be the reason for the problem.

Problem #3: What to do if Galaxy J7 freezes at Samsung screen and won’t boot up

I have a J7. I put it on WiFi to update apps and it froze and turned off and won’t turn back on at all. tried few things to see if would, it wouldn’t charge either. today tried charging again. it came up with red light and said phone was at 15% then managed to turn on but froze at samsung screen and turned off again. now it has a blue light where it should be red. when charging the blue light stays on all the time and won’t turn on again.

Solution: The first troubleshooting step that you want to do in this case is to check whether or not you have charging accessory issue. We don’t think this is charging accessory issue though so you can skip it. Instead, what you want to do next is to see if there’s an Android operating system bug that prevents the device from booting normally. To do that, you want to restart the phone to either Recovery Mode or Download Mode. Either of them doesn’t require Android to work because each of them are separate software environments. If the issue is with Android OS only, the phone should still be able to boot to either Recovery or Odin Mode. If the phone boots to any of them, that means the problem is probably software-related, which means you may be able to fix it on your level. If not, you’ll most probably end up sending the phone to Samsung.

How to boot a Galaxy J7 to Recovery Mode

  1. Turn off the device. This is important. If you can’t turn it off, you’ll never be able to boot to Recovery Mode. If you are not able to shut the device off regularly via the Power button, wait until the phone’s battery is drained. Then, charge the phone for 30 minutes before booting to Recovery Mode.
  2. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home key, then press and hold the Power key.
  3. When the green Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).

If the phone boots to Recovery, make sure to factory reset it to fix the issue.

How to boot a Galaxy S9 to Downlod Mode

  1. Turn off the device. This is important. If you can’t turn it off, you’ll never be able to boot to Recovery Mode. If you are not able to shut the device off regularly via the Power button, wait until the phone’s battery is drained. Then, charge the phone for 30 minutes before booting to Recovery Mode.
  2. Press and hold the Volume Down key and the Bixby key, then press and hold the Power key.
  3. You’ll know if you’re on Download Mode when you see a screen that says “Downloading….”

Odin Mode is a software environment where Samsung technicians install firmware or updates. This is where you flash a firmware. If your phone won’t boot to Recovery Mode but runs in Download Mode, you can consider flashing stock firmware to the device. Flashing is a risky procedure and can potentially brick your phone. If you’re not familiar with it, make sure to do some research first before doing it. Better still, you can let Samsung do it for you.

 

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How to fix Samsung Galaxy J7 Prime that has drained battery, black screen and flashing blue light [Troubleshooting Guide]

A drained battery would surely give you a black screen because in this case, the phone is turned off. This goes to say that it would also be impossible for the LED notification to flash because there’s not enough battery to power it up. Charging the phone should be the first thing you need to do if it appears that it’s totally powered off. However, if you’re seeing a blue light flashing even if the phone appears to be powered down, then most likely, your phone is just experiencing what we call a “system crash.”

We’ve seen cases wherein third-party apps started to crash and affected the overall performance of the firmware. As a result, owners noticed their devices became so slow until the point where they no longer power on or respond. Firmware updates may also cause a system crash if some of the files got corrupted. Then, there’s also a possibility that due to a hardware issue, the firmware gets stuck on a black screen. Needless to say, it would be a lot difficult to determine what the problem with your phone that only has a black screen.

In this post, I will tackle this problem with the Samsung Galaxy S7 Prime being the subject of the troubleshooting. We will try to rule out every possibility until we can determine what the problem really is and formulate a solution that might fix it for good. So, if you’re one of the owners of this phone and are currently having the same problem, continue reading below as this post maybe able to help you.

Before anything else though, if you have other issues with your device, then visit our Galaxy J7 troubleshooting page for we have already addressed several common problems with this phone. Odds are that there are already existing solutions to your problems so just take time finding issues that are similar with yours. If you can’t find one or if you need further assistance, feel free to contact us by completing our Android issues questionnaire. Please provide us with as much information as possible so that it would also be easier for us to troubleshoot the problem. Don’t worry as we offer this service for free, so all you have to do is give us sufficient information about the problem.

How to troubleshoot Galaxy J7 Prime with black screen, blue light flashing

Problem: J7 Prime drained battery, blue light flashes and won’t charge or switch on. Non-removable battery. Tried to charge with a laptop but it won’t recognise it.

Troubleshooting: There’s not much we can do about a phone that won’t turn on or charge. What we can right now is try everything we can to make the phone turn on again so that we can troubleshoot it. Here’s what you need to do…

Step 1: Do the forced reboot procedure

If your phone has a black screen, unresponsive but you can see the notification light flashing, it might be just a crash and this might be the only thing you need to do. It refreshes your phone’s memory and it’s actually equivalent to the battery pull procedure we often do to phone with removable batteries. Since your J7 Prime doesn’t have a removable battery, just press and hold the volume down and power keys to simulate battery disconnect. Your phone may boot up normally after you did this. But move on to the next step if the phone refused to power up.

Step 2: Try starting your phone up in Safe mode

If this problem is due to a third-party app or two, then your phone will be able to start in safe mode without having any problems. When in safe mode, all third-party apps are temporarily disabled and while booting the phone in such environment alone won’t fix the problem, it still very helpful to isolate the problem:

  1. Turn the device off.
  2. Press and hold the Power key past the model name screen.
  3. When “SAMSUNG” appears on the screen, release the Power key.
  4. Immediately after releasing the Power key, press and hold the Volume down key.
  5. Continue to hold the Volume down key until the device finishes restarting.
  6. Safe mode will display in the bottom left corner of the screen.
  7. Release the Volume down key when you see Safe Mode.

If you’ve successfully brought your phone to start in this mode, then it’s clear your third-party apps have something to do with the problem. However, try to reboot your phone in normal mode to see if it goes through this time but if not, then find the app that’s causing the problem and then uninstall it:

  1. From the Home screen, tap the Apps tray.
  2. Tap Settings > Apps.
  3. Tap the desired application in the default list or tap 3 dots icon > Show system apps to display pre-installed apps.
  4. Tap the desired application.
  5. Tap Uninstall.
  6. Tap Uninstall again to confirm.

On the other hand, if the phone can’t boot up in safe mode successfully, then try the next step.

Step 3: Try to start your phone in Recovery mode

The Android system recovery is the fail-safe of almost all Android devices. Even if your phone has a serious firmware issue, it may still be able to start in this mode provided there’s no issue with the hardware.

If you can make your phone to boot up in this mode, then we’re already halfway to fixing the problem but if not, then it’s possible the issue is with the hardware. But assuming the phone starts in recovery mode, you can try wiping the cache partition to delete all system caches. There are times when caches get corrupted and result to various performance-related issues. If the wiping of the cache partition won’t work, then you have to do the Master reset.

How to start your J7 Prime in Recovery mode and wipe cache partition

  1. Turn off the device.
  2. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home key, then press and hold the Power key.
  3. When the Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds, then ‘No command’ before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
  4. Press the Volume down key several times to highlight “wipe cache partition”.
  5. Press Power button to select.
  6. Press the Volume down key to highlight “yes” and press the Power key to select.
  7. When the wipe cache partition is complete, “Reboot system now” is highlighted.
  8. Press the Power key to restart the device.

How to boot your phone in recovery mode and do the master reset

  1. Turn off the device.
  2. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home key, then press and hold the Power key.
  3. When the Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds, then ‘No command’ before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
  4. Press the Volume down key several times to highlight “wipe data / factory reset.
  5. Press Power button to select.
  6. Press the Volume down key until ‘Yes — delete all user data’ is highlighted.
  7. Press Power button to select and start the master reset.
  8. When the master reset is complete, “Reboot system now” is highlighted.
  9. Press the Power key to restart the device.

After doing all this and the phone still refuses to turn on, then bring it to the shop and let the tech run some tests to determine what the problem really is.

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How to fix Samsung Galaxy J7 (2017) that turned off and won’t turn back on [Troubleshooting Guide]

When a phone with really decent technical specifications like the Samsung Galaxy J7 suddenly turns itself off without apparent reason, there must be a serious problem with it. When it comes to power-related concerns, it’s often the battery or some hardware that has issues but there are also times when a firmware problem causes it. In other words, it’s not easy to determine what the concern is all about if we only have to look at the phone that turned off on its own.

Turning off without apparent reason isn’t really that bad. Do you know what’s worse than that? If the phone won’t turn on or respond after it turned off. And this is the kind of problem we will tackle in this post. We will look into every possibility and rule them out one by one until we arrive at a point wherein we can easily determine what the problem really is so that we can try to formulate a solution that might fix it. So, continue reading if you’re one of the owners of this phone that’s plagued by this problem.

Before anything else though, if you have other issues with your device, then visit our Galaxy J7 troubleshooting page for we have already addressed several common problems with this phone. Odds are that there are already existing solutions to your problems so just take time finding issues that are similar with yours. If you can’t find one or if you need further assistance, feel free to contact us by completing our Android issues questionnaire. Please provide us with as much information as possible so that it would also be easier for us to troubleshoot the problem. Don’t worry as we offer this service for free, so all you have to do is give us sufficient information about the problem.

How to troubleshoot Galaxy J7 that turned off and won’t turn on

Problem: This phone just turned off and didn’t turn on. I tried soft reset, removing the battery reinstall the battery as the instruction it didn’t work. I tried pressing and holding the volume down and power button, still not working. I think the battery is completely empty because it’s already 10 days after I searched for solution. But first it shows on my laptop it still recognizes but still shows black screen. I can’t charge or no charging signs. Now when I connect it to the computer there is a sound when I press the power button but after 2 seconds it sounds disconnected again. I really need help. Thank you.

Troubleshooting: In the problem I cited above, I understand the owner already tried doing some troubleshooting procedures. He’s even gone to the extent of removing the battery, which is unnecessary and risky, to no avail. This troubleshooting guide will walk you through in fixing this problem safely, we don’t want you to do things that can potentially damage your phone or void your warranty. With all that being said, here’s what I suggest you do about this problem:

Step 1: Force restart your Galaxy J7

Going through all the hassle of removing the battery from your phone that has no removable battery is unnecessary since you can just press and hold the Volume Down and the Power key for 10 seconds and the phone will simulate battery disconnect.

This simple procedure alone is enough to fix the problem provided it’s just a glitch in the system or the hardware. However, if the phone still won’t start after doing this, then move on to the next steps.

Step 2: Perform a visual inspection on your phone’s charger port

The phone turned off on its own so something must have triggered it. One of the most common cause why a phone turns off on its own is liquid damage. While your J7 is water-resistant, it’s still vulnerable to water and do you know what the most common entry point is? It’s the USB or charger port.

So, it must be the first thing you should look into. If you can find moist in it, get a piece of tissue and insert it. Leave the tissue for a minute or two to absorb all the moist. After making sure the charger port is dry, do a physical inspection with the charger and the cable. I know they don’t directly cause the problem but it’s necessary for the next step

Step 3: Try charging your phone

It’s imperative that you check your phone for possible liquid damage prior to this step so, after step 2, remove the SIM card tray and then look into the slot to find the Liquid Damage Indicator (LDI). It’s a small sticker that’s directly visible when you look into the SIM slot. If it’s still white, then your phone is free from liquid damage but if it turned red, pink or purple, you shouldn’t proceed with your troubleshooting because you might just ruin your phone even more. Instead, bring it to the shop and let the tech handle the problem for you.

However, if there’s no sign of liquid damage, then plug the AC adapter to a functioning wall outlet and then connect one end of the cable to it and the other end to your phone. If there’s no problem with the hardware, you should see the charging icon on the screen immediately or after a minute or two. And the LED indicator above the screen should also be lit up. However, if these signs doesn’t show, leave your phone charging for another 10 minutes but you have to check if it’s heating up becuase if it does, then disconnect it from the charger immediately and bring it to the tech.

Assuming the phone doesn’t heat up when charged but the charging signs aren’t showing, do the forced reboot procedure again by pressing and holding the Volume Down and the Power keys together for 10 seconds while the phone is plugged in. If it still won’t turn on after that, then move on to the next step.

Step 4: Try booting your phone up in Safe mode

If we can only boot the phone up in any mode, that would reassure us that the hardware is fine that’s the reason I want you to try to start it up in safe mode…

  1. Turn the device off.
  2. Press and hold the Power key past the screen with the device name.
  3. When ‘SAMSUNG’ appears on the screen, release the Power key.
  4. Immediately after releasing the Power key, press and hold the Volume down key.
  5. Continue to hold the Volume down key until the device finishes restarting.
  6. Safe mode will display in the bottom left corner of the screen.
  7. Release the Volume down key when you see ‘Safe Mode’.

If you J7 successfully turned on and booted up in this mode, try to reboot it normally to see if it works this time but at least, at this point we know the phone is still capable of turning itself on. On the other hand, if the phone still refuses to turn on in safe mode, move on to the next step.

Step 5: Try booting it up in Recovery Mode

This is another environment and this time, we’re trying to boot the phone into Android system recovery, which serves as the fail-safe for almost all Android devices. If successful, you should try wiping the cache partition first and if that doesn’t work, you should so the master reset. Here’s how to do those things…

How to boot Galaxy J7 in Recovery Mode and wipe cache partition

  1. Turn off the device.
  2. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home key, then press and hold the Power key.
  3. When the device logo screen displays, release only the Power key
  4. When the Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
  5. Press the Volume down key several times key to highlight ‘wipe cache partition.’
  6. Press the Power key to select.
  7. Press the Volume down key to highlight ‘yes’ and press the Power key to select.
  8. When the wipe cache partition is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
  9. Press the Power key to restart the device.

How to boot phone in Recovery Mode and do Master Reset

  1. Turn off the device.
  2. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home key, then press and hold the Power key.
  3. When the device logo screen displays, release only the Power key
  4. When the Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
  5. Press the Volume down key several times key to highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset.’
  6. Press Power button to select.
  7. Press the Volume down key until ‘Yes — delete all user data’ is highlighted.
  8. Press Power button to select and start the master reset.
  9. When the master reset is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
  10. Press the Power key to restart the device.

If the phone still refuses to turn on in Recovery mode, then it’s time to send it to the shop and let the tech fix the problem for you.

Connect with us

We are always open to your problems, questions and suggestions, so feel free to contact us by filling up this form. This is a free service we offer and we won’t charge you a penny for it. But please note that we receive hundreds of emails every day and it’s impossible for us to respond to every single one of them. But rest assured we read every message we receive. For those whom we’ve helped, please spread the word by sharing our posts to your friends or by simply liking our Facebook and Google+ page or follow us on Twitter.